That came after the college's Board of Trustees approved a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that slashes more than $2 million in spending. The board also approved a $2 tuition hike for in-district credit hours in May, among other increases.

"This whole concept of paying our employees bonuses, to me, sounds like we're acting like a Wall Street banker," Higgs said. "Every other public employer around is making sacrifices and Delta College is making none."

Many Delta employees were required to contribute 3 percent toward their retirement benefit this year, per state mandate.

That, on top of pay freezes, leaves Delta employees still earning less this year, even with bonuses, Emrich said.

"We had reserved money in the Delta budget in anticipation of further cuts from the state," he said. "The money that was being distributed is being distributed out of that reserve, which we did not need to use.

"So it's an attempt to say to people, 'Look, we told you there was a freeze because we thought we were going to get cuts. We didn't get them, so we're not going to punish you.'"

What do you think? Are bonuses and raises for college employees anachronistic as institutions slash budgets and raise tuition costs?